Chapter 1: Dismiss

In April 2003, the city of Almere in Flevoland, the Netherlands.
On a green football training ground in Chengbei Sports Park, a group of 16-year-old Dutch teenagers are forming a circle and playing a football game called robbing. Although they are training, the faces of the teenagers are With an unusually relaxed look, there was no tension in the training at the scene, and it was more like a joke or even a joke.
There is another name for the game of grabbing circles, walking the monkey.
This group of Dutch teenagers is the Chinese teenager in charge of grabbing the ball in the circle.
His dark hair and yellow skin made him stand out in the all-Netherlands team, and he did not hesitate to run and grab the ball on the court, like a headless fly furiously rushing around, occasionally causing a burst of surroundings The laughter further stimulated the fun of the Dutch teenagers.
Fans watching on the sidelines were also very excited, as if what they were watching was not football training, but a wonderful performance by the Amsterdam Royal Circus.
The ball was skillfully passed around the feet of the Dutch teenagers in a circle. Although the Chinese teenager kept running and chasing the ball, he still failed to grab it. Several times he was lucky to catch up and was surprised by an accident around him. Sound, but in the end they still pass the ball.
At the beginning, every time he failed to grab the ball, laughter, sarcasm, and even ridicule came around him. But gradually, this kind of sound became smaller and smaller, and in the end it was silent.
Any cruel game may initially stimulate the adrenal glands of the audience with freshness, but when it is staged again and again and again and again, gradually, the audience will become numb, but will feel tragic.
A kind of sorrow that allows the weak to let the strong dominate.
"Poor boy, why do you insist?" Someone shook his head sympathetically.
"Not surprising, he does this every time."
"It's almost a year, why hasn't he given up yet?"
"To change me, I gave up long ago."
"The speed is very fast, and the physical fitness is good, but the basic skills are very bad."
"I have watched the ball for so many years. This Chinese kid really has no future. Not to mention the professional league. I am afraid that even the amateur can't meet the requirements. I should give up quickly and find another way early.
"Who said no? Mr. Repp has dissuaded him many times, but he just refused to die."
"What a stubborn kid."
"Unfortunately, if he comes in a few years earlier, with his speed and physical fitness, coupled with this mentality, there is really hope to play in the professional league, but now ...
"Cough, is there any way?"
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Head coach John Rep finally sounded the whistle at the end of training.
Everyone, including him, exhaled heavily.
it's finally over!
In just ten minutes of lap time, in their view, it was so long.
After the whistle sounded, the Chinese teenager who was still unable to grab the ball was so tired that the whole person kneeled down on the training ground and panted heavily.
Teammates walked around him, occasionally one or two sympathizing with his hand and patting his head and shoulders.
But the comfort from his teammates did not make him feel good, but felt humiliated, clenched his fists, thumped the grass hard, and kept blaming himself in his heart.
His name is Yang Yang and he is 16 years old. He comes from a small county town in Quanzhou, Fujian, China. His parents run a small shoe factory, and his family is in good condition. Seeing him like football, he has taught him to follow a retired professional player in the city since he was young. , And he also scrambled to stand out among his peers.
Uncle Shen Ming runs a Chinese restaurant in Almere, the Netherlands. When he returned to China to visit relatives, he just watched a game of Yang Yang's school team. He made a suggestion and suggested that he go to the Netherlands for further study to make Yang Yang perturbed.
At first, my parents disagreed. After all, the gap between Chinese players and European players is so wide that Yang Yang has not even experienced formal professional training. How can he succeed?
But Yang Yang insisted repeatedly, and with the help of uncle Shen Ming, in the end, his parents could only reluctantly agree, it was just going abroad to practice.
With a limit of one year, if Yang Yang can gain a foothold in the Netherlands, they will allow Yang Yang to continue to play football, otherwise they will have to return to China, study hard, and give up their dream of becoming a professional player.
Landing ambitiously in the Netherlands, waiting for Yang Yang is one after another.
First, he was frustrated in the trial training of several Amsterdam teams. He was not accepted by the other party and had to use the relationship between his uncle. He persuaded the third-level amateur team Almere to sponsor Yang Yang to follow the youth team After a year of training, he turned out to be far worse than his peers in the amateur team in the Netherlands.
During the year of training with Almere, although he did his best to improve himself and strive to integrate into Almere's training, the bad basic skills were still exposed in daily training, especially in this seemingly simple However, in the highly demanding game of lap grabbing, he can only pass into the lap to grab the ball again and again.
Similar to today's scene, it is repeated almost every day.
If Yang Yang was not sober before, the personal experience over the past year has made him thoroughly appreciate the disparity between himself and Dutch players of the same age.
He was not reconciled, but had no solution at all.
He has missed the best age to consolidate basic skills.
Seeing that the one-year period is approaching, Yang Yang's situation in the team is getting worse. Even if he has tried his best, he has not been able to improve. This makes him feel very annoyed and blamed. He can only hammer the grass. Let out your inner depression.
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"Yang."
After the players left, John Rep came to Yang Yang and looked at the sweaty, gasping boy, feeling helpless for a while.
He naturally knew everything that happened on the training ground.
If, a year ago, John Rep was somewhat disgusted with this relationship, then through this year ’s performance, Yang Yang used his diligence and determination to completely change the Dutch name, but this does not hinder John Rep's judgment on Yang Yang's future.
Regarding what happened to Yang Yang, the 51-year-old Dutch middle-aged man couldn't bear or feel regret, but in the end he still hardened his heart and didn't shout to stop training in advance, but continued to stand by and watch.
If Yang Yang ’s perseverance persisted a few years ago, he believed that there must be a chance, but now ... he can only politely dissuade.
He believes that this is responsible for Yang Yang's future.
"Mr. Repp." Yang Yang rose from the ground and shouted respectfully.
In the past year, he has learned a lot from this famous Dutch man, and he never dared to be negligent.
"You know, there is one month to come, and this training session is coming to an end. We will hold an internal assessment at that time." John Rep said lightly.
Yang Yang nodded, this is the youth training model that Almere borrowed from the Dutch giant Ajax.
The annual assessment will eliminate part of the unqualified students, and then add some fresh blood to stimulate internal competition, and the students with excellent performance will be recommended by the club to go to Amsterdam in July to participate in the selection of Ajax's talent day , Have the opportunity to be selected into the Ajax youth camp.
As a satellite club of the Dutch giants, Almere has three recommendation places every year, and only the best students are eligible to receive this recommendation letter.
If it was said that Yang Yang, who had just arrived a year ago, was still full of confidence in Ajax, now, he has only one idea, that is to stay in Almere.
But this is getting harder and harder.
"You know, Yang." John Rep looked at Yang Yang unbearably. His eyes were full of helplessness. "We are the first team in Almere to hope to enter the professional league in nearly three decades. The city government And all walks of life are very concerned about the development of our team. This year's assessment site will definitely attract a lot of guests and fans, so ... "
Some words, John Rep could not bear to speak in person, but the meaning was clear.
Although he only came to the Netherlands for a year, John Rep believes that Yang Yang's Dutch level is enough to let him understand the meaning of his words.
"Your culture class scores are very good, and the school teacher's evaluation of you is also very high. We all think that you should concentrate on this direction. If you want, I can convince Mr. Chairman, even if you leave the team You can still stay in the middle school that we are working with, and you will have the opportunity to enter the University of Amsterdam in the future. "
The University of Amsterdam, the best university in the Netherlands, is also one of the most prestigious universities in Europe.
In John Rep's view, the possibility of Yang Yang becoming a professional player is more slim than admission to the University of Amsterdam, although the latter's competition is also very fierce.
Yang Yang understands the meaning of John Rep. Such persuasion has been repeated many times in the past, and the head coach ’s remarks have become more and more straightforward, and he knows that the promise given by John Rep today has been It's great.
The middle school he is attending now is a local private school in Almere. If it is not Almere ’s youth player, he is impossible to enroll, and the team has never given similar compensation to other eliminated players before. It's an exception.
But Yang Yang still can't accept it.
"Thank you, Mr. Repp." Yang Yang just raised his head after a little thought, looked directly at the head coach, and shook his head firmly. "I understand your kindness, but I really don't want to give up like this, as long as I don't arrive At the last moment, I will not admit defeat. "
"You again ..."
"I decided, Mr. Leip." Yang Yang ended the conversation without question.
John Rep was already psychologically prepared for this result. He didn't think Yang Yang's stubbornness and perseverance at all. Instead, he appreciated it very much.
If Yang Yang appeared in front of him a few years ago, I believe the result would be very different from the present.
At the very least, his basic skills will be more solid than it is now. With his speed and physical fitness, he can definitely gain a foothold in Almere, and even hope to do better.
Unfortunately, he has missed the best age.
Thinking of this, John Depp looked at Yang Yang's back and turned away, sighing for a long time.
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Almere is the satellite city of Amsterdam. Most of the people who live here work in Amsterdam. Early and late return, dinner becomes the best time for the restaurant business.
Yang Yang didn't go to the restaurant to help after the training as usual today. He called his uncle and called, and when he got home, he locked himself in the room.
He felt that he needed to be quiet.
Lying on his back on the single bed, the low ceiling bears the big posters of his two favorite idols.
Currently playing for Real Madrid's Brazilian superstar Ronaldo, and the retired Dutch star Van Basten.
He has been lying on the bed countless times like he is now, watching idols fall asleep, even dreaming that he is competing with them.
But he has never been so lingering.
He has self-knowledge and knows the gap between himself and his peers in the Netherlands, but he is not willing to fail in this way and gives up his dream of football.
He remembered his parents in China, they would be very disappointed when they heard the news.
Although his parents always advised him to give up playing football and return home to study hard, it was hoped that he would give up on his own initiative.
No pair of parents want their children to suffer such setbacks, do they?
There is also an uncle's family. They must have been psychologically prepared, but they must have been very disappointed.
Thinking about it, unconsciously, he seemed to be asleep.
Confused, Yang Yang had a very strange dream.
He came to a dark, dark space where he could not reach his fingers.
He was not sure if he was dreaming, shouting desperately, running desperately, trying to escape this terrifying place.
But the shout was dumb and he ran tired, but he seemed to be still there.
At this moment, from a distant place, a ray of sound seemed to float.
Yang Yang!
He vaguely heard it seemed that someone was shouting his name, which was very weak at first, but gradually, he heard it clearly.
So, he immediately ran past the voice.